News reports say that 15,000 people came to Divine Mercy Sunday in Stockbridge, Massachusetts this year. This is, by a good 3,000 people, many more than they expected, and while not the most that have ever come, it was by all reports, this was probably the worst day for weather we've had since Pope John Paul II formally declared the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday in 2000, and it's probably a miracle that so many came. Oh, yes, we're insane, us "Jesus freaks"! LOL So, my friend Ron, my 15-year old son, and I, packed a lunch, our umbrellas, and our Divine Mercy chaplets, and headed out. Ron was convinced the rain would stop eventually. It did. On Monday....

Rain was torrential, and the weather hovered in the 40's (F). My son missed going to Confession on Saturday, so right off we had to go stand in line. It wasn't long.... but it wasn't exciting either, LOL. Yet as we stood in line for Confession, huddling under our umbrellas, spirits around us were good, and we could hear people singing "Immaculate Mary" and "Amazing Grace", as the wind tried to blow our umbrellas out of our hands.

Ron decided that he was all set, and didn't need to stand in line for Confession. He decided to try to go find somewhere to stay dry - silly him! There wasn't anywhere, really! He wandered off, I saw him standing hunched under a tree at one point. We caught up with him later, poor thing, and pulled him inside one of the tents, where we stood up and had lunch. He just couldn't get over how many people had come in such bad weather for a religious event. "They'd never get this kind of turnout for the Middlefield Fair, in this kind of weather", he'd say, with the rain dripping down his nose.

And, he missed out on the conversation with the lady from New Jersey, the one with the lime green boots, as we talked about "offering it up" and how many souls might be getting out of Purgatory today, if we all "offered it up" - and does it count for the whole day, or does it count every time some ache, pain, wind gust, or burst of rain down your collar hits you? Would one "offer-it" just nudge a soul closer, or would it completely clean them up and send them on their way? We decided that since we were pretty cold and extremely wet that whatever it was, it was the max, lol.

We all almost fell over laughing when some wit (probably me) commented that hypothermia was a great excuse for having a confession that went something like, "Forgive me father, for I have sinned.... but I forget what all my sins were because I was in line in the freezing rain for too long, but gee I'm really, honestly, truly sorry for whatever they were." We agreed that this type of confession would most definitely make the line move much, much faster!

My son thought it was hysterical when he realized that not only were his fingers cold, but they were waterlogged - his fingernails were white! But he was so good about it all! We had to stand up the whole time. We never sat down until after Communion, when, as typical, people started heading for the parking lots. My poor friend couldn't take it any more, and he left as soon as he got Communion too. But, plenty of seats opened up on the benches then, (out in the field where they had Mass) so my son and I staggered over and sat down. The benches were soaking wet, but we didn't care - we were drenched anyway. We huddled under my umbrella, and stayed through until the end of the Mercy chaplet, and the blessing of objects. Then we stumbled back down the hill to the buses.

The homily given by Cardinal O'Malley was wonderful. He is a very gentle, humble person. I could have listened to him talk all day - even with the wind and rain.

He began by mentioning that the deacon who read the Gospel reading had just been ordained, and then told a funny story about how when he was first ordained, he was stationed at a jail, and his first homily, he decided to talk about a bunch of famous Biblical escapes, such as Daniel escaping from the lions den, and St. Paul escaping from Rome. He laughed, and said that 6 prisoners were "inspired" to escape that night!

He then talked about the readings - how the early Christians cared for each other, and implicitly trusted in the Lord's mercy. They gave everything, and held nothing back, and they wanted for nothing, and how we are called to care for each other. That while we don't sell our houses, we are called to look into the eyes of our neighbor and love them, to do the hard things, not only because God asks us to - but because Jesus has done these things for us, already. That we should take the message of Divine Mercy to everyone, that we should believe in God's mercy, believe in God's love. "And the victory that conquers the world is our faith." That we should not look at the chaos and despair, but at the love. He talked about Thomas, of course, and how Thomas had to have Christ's resurrection proved to him - but also how his affirmation of faith was one of the most simply beautiful in Scripture - "My Lord and my God!" - if a transcript comes out, I will send it to you - it was wonderful hearing him speak. I almost forgot the rain - and that's saying something!

On the way home, my son and I stopped at the Blandford rest stop to grab a bit of something hot and use the rest rooms. His coat was soaking wet, and he left it in the car. He's 6' 2" tall, and he is noticable. The kid was wearing a rather pro-life t-shirt - black, with a white cross on the front, with a red baby-sized hand-print, that said, "The Cross we all bear, abortion" on the front, and on the back it said something like, "46,000,000 killed from 1973 - 2005 - Stop killing my generation" - or something like that - oh - he made a hit, let me tell you, LOL - I think he forgot he was wearing it. He's been pretty self-conscious about wearing these shirts in public since he got them - but he was really pleased with the reaction - two men told him that they loved his shirt, and one wanted to know where he got it. Another guy, in his 20's started the "what if it's rape" argument, and my son stepped right up to the plate - "but you can't sentance the baby to death - the baby didn't DO anything!" - I'm so proud of my son sometimes!

One thing, though, that I thought was very sad - you won't find any mention of year's Divine Mercy Sunday events in either the Springfield or Boston newspapers... only the Pittsfield paper, the Berkshire Eagle, carried a brief story about it. I wrote the author and thanked him. You might want to also. "Mercy in the Mud" I also wrote a letter to the Editor of the Union News in Springfield, asking them why they didn't bother covering Mercy Sunday, when it's in their own backyard... And funny, the Globe will follow Cardinal O'Malley all over the place if they are sniffing out bad news - but let him do something good, and they ignore it. Ah well.

God bless,
Lisa Alekna, MI

I came across this tonight.... it was just a few days later that the Lord
called him home.... what an amazing man!

==========

Urbi et Orbi Message of His Holiness Pope John Paull II
Easter Sunday, 27 March 2005

1. Mane nobiscum, Domine!
Stay with us, Lord! (cf. Lk 24:29)

With these words, the disciples on the road to Emmaus invited the mysterious
Wayfarer to stay with them, as the sun was setting on that first day of the
week when the incredible had occurred. According to his promise, Christ had
risen; but they did not yet know this. Nevertheless, the words spoken by the
Wayfarer along the road made their hearts burn within them. So they said to
him: "Stay with us". Seated around the supper table, they recognized him in
the "breaking of bread" - and suddenly he vanished. There remained in front
of them the broken bread, There echoed in their hearts the gentle sound of
his words.

2. Dear brothers and sisters, the Word and the Bread of the Eucharist, the
mystery and the gift of Easter, remain down the centuries as a constant
memorial of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ! On this Easter
Day, together with all Christians throughout the world, we too repeat those
words: Jesus, crucified and risen, stay with us! Stay with us, faithful
friend and sure support for humanity on its journey through history! Living
Word of the Father, give hope and trust to all who are searching for the
true meaning of their lives. Bread of eternal life, nourish those who hunger
for truth, freedom, justice and peace.

3. Stay with us, Living Word of the Father, and teach us words and deeds of
peace: peace for our world consecrated by your blood and drenched in the
blood of so many innocent victims: peace for the countries of the Middle
East and Africa, where so much blood continues to be shed; peace for all of
humanity, still threatened by fratricidal wars. Stay with us, Bread of
eternal life, broken and distributed to those at table: give also to us the
strength to show generous solidarity towards the multitudes who are even
today suffering and dying from poverty and hunger, decimated by fatal
epidemics or devastated by immense natural disasters. By the power of your
Resurrection, may they too become sharers in new life.

4. We, the men and women of the third millennium, we too need you, Risen
Lord! Stay with us now, and until the end of time. Grant that the material
progress of peoples may never obscure the spiritual values which are the
soul of their civilization. Sustain us, we pray, on our journey. In you do
we believe, in you do we hope, for you alone have the words of eternal life
(cf. Jn 6:68). Mane nobiscum, Domine! Alleluia!

http://www.topix.net/content/cj/7036434684842699030

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity offer Ring Tone Download

A free ring tone of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity's theme song
"Peace and All Good" may be conveniently downloaded at
http://www.fscc-calledtobe.org/weinvite.htm .

The Franciscan Sisters wanted to accommodate young women's rapidly
increasing interest in downloading ring tones of songs they liked. "As
consecrated women we are encouraged by our Church to make known the beauty
and the truth of our lives through the marvels of technology." says Sr.
Julie Ann Sheahan, OSF, of the order's vocation team.

She notes that "Jesus, the Incarnate Word, left us an example of the
importance of human communication in daily life. We hope our simple,
beautiful "Called to be" ring tone may inspire young women to discover and
discern their unique call from God."

The ring tone features a sung excerpt of the Sister's "Peace and All Good"
melody. "The human voice is as distinctive as a fingerprint, and one of the
most powerful instruments through which intention can be directed and
focused." says Sr. Julie Ann.

The ring tone features a sung excerpt of the Sister's "Peace and All Good"
melody. "The human voice is as distinctive as a fingerprint, and one of the
most powerful instruments through which intention can be directed and
focused." says Sr. Julie Ann.

Established in 1869, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity serve in
Catholic health care, education and parish ministries in eleven United
States dioceses.

CONTACT: Sr. Julie Ann Sheahan OSF or Sr. Marianna Merkatoris, OSF
920-682-7728.

Vocation Office
Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity
Holy Family Convent
2409 S. Alverno Road
Manitowoc, WI 54220

Email: vocations@fscc-calledtobe.org